Let the Games Begin
Let the Games Begin is the tenth episode of Season 1 of CBS' Under the Dome, which aired on August 26, 2013. It is the tenth episode overall. Summary Maxine continues to manipulate Barbie and Big Jim. Linda and Julia investigate Duke's involvement with previous criminal activity in Chester's Mill. Meanwhile, Angie realizes Junior is the "fourth hand". Synopsis Norrie, Joe, and Angie, having spent the night in the barn, wake up to discover a caterpillar inside the mini-dome. Joe identifies it as a caterpillar that will grow into a monarch butterfly. Norrie and Joe suggest they ask Julia, who had previously been communicated with by the mini-dome that "the monarch will be crowned". Angie is reluctant, pointing out that Julia hasn't had any seizures. The three set out to discover who else has had seizures to determine who the fourth hand print belongs to, hoping to turn off the Dome. After they leave, Dodee sneaks inside, discovering the mini-dome. Barbie arrives at Big Jim's house, asking to talk about Maxine. Big Jim asks how she and Barbie are acquainted, but he is as reluctant as Big Jim is to reveal his secrets. Barbie suggests they destroy whatever Maxine's "insurance policy" is, that she is using to blackmail them. Big Jim suggests that they investigate a real estate company that Maxine owns and offers to look into the records to see which properties she would have access to. Barbie is hesitant to let Big Jim go alone, and they agree to go together, but Maxine comes in and tells Barbie that she has to come with her, making Big Jim go alone. Dodee approaches the mini-dome, taking pictures with her phone. She touches it, and is forcefully pushed back and knocked unconscious. Joe, Norrie, and Angie rush in at the noise, discovering Dodee, and see that her hand is burnt. They bring Dodee to the clinic, where she regains consciousness and asks what happened. Joe and Norrie tell her they found her next to a generator. Nurse Adams arrives to take Dodee to be examined, and Angie asks if she is aware of anyone else in town who has had seizures. Adams says she isn't aware of any since Angie's tenth grade dance. Angie, shocked, runs out of the clinic while Joe and Norrie follow her. Julia arrives at the Sheriff's Department, looking for Barbie, but finds Linda. Linda asks Julia about the investigating into the propane that Andrea approached Julia about. Linda plays Julia the surveillance video of Maxine paying Duke, and explains that it was about Rapture. She also speculates that Lester burned down Duke's house to cover it up. Citing Duke's priorities as "fly fishing, bourbon, and that hat", Linda discovers a key hidden in it. Julia recognizes it as being similar to one of her own that unlocks a safe deposit box at the bank, and the two leave to investigate. Junior, on patrol, sees a man run at the sight of his police cruiser. He pursues and captures the man, and discovers that the man was running because he has shoplifted a can of salt. Junior is confused why someone would bother to steal that, and the man answers that it is "better than cash if you want to get into the cement factory". Barbie and Maxine arrive at the cement factory. She leads him inside where she shows him a fight club she has organized. Big Jim arrives at the mansion on Bird Island and spots a housekeeper, Agatha. He asks her if it is Maxine's property, but Agatha explains it belongs to a man who is currently on his boat on the other side of the island. She invites him inside to wait for him to return. At the factory, Maxine explains her system, where people can bring items, fight one of her men, and attempt to trade up in value. Barbie points out that people are already bartering in town, but she clarifies that her system isn't about needs, it is about vices, claiming that if she is going to be trapped in Chester's Mill, she wants to live as well as she can. Angie tells Joe and Norrie that she believes Junior to be the fourth hand. She reveals that Junior passed out at her tenth grade dance, but everyone had believed that he had been drinking, Nurse Adams just explained that it was really a seizure. When Joe expresses his dislike of Junior, Angie angrily reveals that Junior had kidnapped her after the Dome arrived. Joe is furious, but Norrie talks him down before asking if Angie is sure that Junior is the fourth. Angie says she's sure, and says she wants to show them something. Julia and Linda arrive at the bank. Seeing all the money, Julia laments how her marriage fell apart because of her husband's gambling problems. They discover the door to the safe deposit room is locked, but Linda manages to break in using a fire extinguisher. Arriving at the cement factory, Junior attempts to enter by offering the can of salt. The bouncer, Duncan, turns Junior away, saying that he knows Junior is a cop, and isn't welcome. Junior tries to force his way in, but Duncan knocks him down and takes the salt. Inside, Maxine and Barbie watch a fight, and tells Barbie that he is going to be the main event. Barbie refuses, but Maxine reminds him that if he doesn't want everyone to know he killed Peter Shumway, he'll do whatever she says. She tells him his opponent will be Victor Rawlins, a man Barbie once forced to pay his gambling debts who has since lost his family. While Agatha is in another room, Big Jim searches the house for any sign of Maxine's insurance policy. He finds a picture of Maxine, and Agatha returns with a rifle, revealing to him that Maxine is her daughter. Barbie is introduced to the crowd by Maxine, who quietly warns him not to disappoint her. He is immediately knocked down by Victor, but manages to bring Victor down, too. Agatha orders Big Jim to sit, and asks if he remembers her. She says she was a dropout from his high school class. He recalls a girl named Claire who dropped out when she became pregnant, and she confirms that was her. She reveals that with no other option to care for her daughter, she resorted to prostitution. She has harbored bitterness over the town's hypocrisy as she was publicly shamed by some of the very people who paid for her services. Big Jim realizes that Agatha is the insurance policy, as Maxine has told her everyone's secrets, and she tells him that Barbie killed Peter Shumway. When Agatha criticizes Junior, Big Jim becomes aggressive. She threatens to shoot him, but he asks if she has ever actually killed anyone. He calls her bluff and disarms her. Angie leads Joe and Norrie to Pauline Rennie's studio, and shows them the painting of Junior next to the pink stars. Junior arrives and Joe attacks him, but Junior easily overpowers him. Angie demands he release Joe and come with them to the barn, claiming that the four of them are connected to something bigger. Barbie overpowers Victor, seemingly winning the fight. Noticing Maxine's satisfaction, he goads Victor into standing up, and grappling him, quietly telling Victor to hit him as hard as he can. He does, and when Barbie goes down, Maxine declares Victor the winner. When the crowd clears, Maxine says she knows Barbie threw the fight. He denies it, and she reveals that she bet on Victor, knowing that Barbie "would do anything except let her win". Linda and Julia open Duke's safe deposit box, finding a toy sheriff badge Linda gave him after his heart surgery. They also find a letter from Duke confessing his involvement in the drugs: that his son was lost to drugs, and that he made a deal with Maxine to keep the town afloat and keep drugs out of Chester's Mill. The confession also identifies Lester Coggins with laundering the money, and Big Jim with buying the propane. Julia opens her own safe deposit box, and discovers that Peter had life insurance for the amount of one million dollars. Big Jim ties Agatha's hands and brings her on his boat to transport her back to the mainland. Along the way, she taunts him but falls into the water. Big Jim circles back, and considers pulling her up, but instead leaves her to her fate. Maxine rejoices in her day's victory, offering to cut Barbie in on her plans. Barbie refuses, and asks what will happen when Maxine stops getting what she wants. Maxine answers that she will "burn the place down" if that were to happen. Barbie pushes her away, and again threatens to reveal that he killed Peter Shumway. Barbie leaves, claiming they're finished. Big Jim returns home and finds Linda waiting outside. He invites her inside, but she requests they go to the station. Big Jim declines, and Linda orders him to come by first thing the next day, or she will arrest him. Barbie arrives back at Julia's house. He tells her that what he told her about Peter not being at the cabin was a lie, and that Peter was there. She says she already figured it out, discovering the gun they kept upstairs was missing. She explains to him that Peter wanted Barbie to kill him, having taken out the life insurance policy. Barbie apologizes to her. She acknowledges that she has seen him risk his life for total strangers, but that in the future, he can't lie to her again. Barbie asks if she is sure she wants him in her future, and she is uncertain. Angie, Joe, and Norrie bring Junior to the barn, where they notice the caterpillar has entered its chrysalis. They touch the mini-dome with Junior. The egg begins to glow, and the power in the barn goes out. The egg projects the pink stars around them, forming constellations. While Angie admires their beauty, Junior asks what it means. Credits Main Cast *Mike Vogel as Dale "Barbie" Barbara *Rachelle Lefevre as Julia Shumway *Natalie Martinez as Linda Esquivel *Britt Robertson as Angie McAlister *Alexander Koch as James "Junior" Rennie *Colin Ford as Joseph "Joe" McAlister *Jolene Purdy as Dorothy "Dodee" Weaver *Dean Norris as James "Big Jim" Rennie Supporting Cast Guest Stars *MacKenzie Lintz as Eleanor "Norrie" Calvert-Hill *Natalie Zea as Maxine Seagrave *Mare Winningham as Agatha Seagrave Co-Stars *Berry Newkirk as Hoodie Guy *Derek Roberts as Duncan Pettitte *Crystal Martinez as Nurse Adams *Rey Hernandez as Otto Aguilar *Matthew Austin Murray as Victor Rawlins *Kevin A. Hall as Antoine Dinoffria *Jeremy Conner as James Harper Uncredited *Steve Baldwin as Rough Patron *Kegan Dean Rushing as Rough Patron *Alex S. Taylor as Townsperson *Wil Smith as Townsperson *Jeff Fahey as Howard "Duke" Perkins Deaths *Agatha Seagrave Trivia *First appearance of Otto Aguilar. *First (and only) appearance of Duncan Pettitte. *First (and only) appearance of Victor Rawlins. *First (and only) appearance of Antoine Dinoffria. *First (and only) appearance of James Harper. *First (and last) appearance of Agatha Seagrave. *Last appearance of Howard "Duke" Perkins. *The episode title refers to the fight club that Maxine organizes in the Sanders Cement Works. *Two insurance policies are revealed in this episode: Peter Shumway's million dollar life insurance document and Maxine's mother – Agatha Seagrave (aka Claire). *During the events of Let the Games Begin, the residents of Chester's Mill have been under the Dome for ten days. * A camera man, part of the TV Show's crew, can be seen in the crowd of the Cement Factory fights when the camera pans to show the whole audience. Category:Episodes Category:Season 1